Impacting machine



June 19, 1945. R. J. s. CARTER 2,373,393

Y IMPACTING MACHINE Filemune 22, 1942 V2 Sheets-Sheet vl la l June 19, 1945. R. J. s. CARTER IMPACTING MACHINE 2 sheets-sheet 2 Filed June 22, 1942 1W MN.. 0 0 0 MN/ QN mw @www5 mw ww n ,Rw Rw N m|l|. m l mw. uw ww wIm, 1 1. NW K HMV wm. |L|

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Robert J. S. Carter, Minneapolis, Minn., assignor to Pillsbury Mills, Inc., a corporation of Dela- Application June 22, 1942, Serial No. 447.928

7 Claims.

This invention relates to impacting machines for shattering or breaking up granular material. Certain features of the impacting machine forming the subject matter of this invention are illustrated and described but not claimed in my.

application for patent entitled Milling process, filed Mayll; 1942, Serial No. 442,439 and, therefore this application disclosesr improvements on the machine employed in the process of said prior application.

It is .one of the objects of the invention to provide a novel and nimproved centrifugal impacting machine including an impact ring and an impeller which throws out granular material against the-impact ring, the impact ring being so constructed that the grain thrown will strike surfaces on the impact ring substantially noi-malto the direction of movement of the thrown out grain.

Another object of the invention is to provide in such an impacting machine means for carrying the material laterally of the impact ring afterthe granular material has once struck the ring and been shattered or broken up.

A further object is to provide a centrifugal impacting niachine including an impact ring, a centrally fed impeller workingY within the ring, and means for so delivering the granular material from the impeller that the granular material will move in thin streams against the ring and yet the machine will have high capacity.

One other object in such an impacting-machine is to prevent back feed of impacted granular material throughthe machine a second time.

The objects and advantages of the present invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the. accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to the same or similar parts throughout the various views, and in which- Fig. 1 is a plan view of a machine embodying the invention; .Y l

Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is a view on enlarged scale of the impactor showing the same partly in vertical sectionl with the front plate of the machine removed; and Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3 as indicated by the arrows.

lReferring to the drawings and first to Figs. 1 and 2 there is showna typical installation of an impacting machine embodying the invention. There is provided a suitable frame work 5 within which a pair of shafts 6 and 1 are journaled. The shaft 6 may be driven in any suitable manner from a source of power as by Imeans of a belt 8 working over a pulley 9 secured to the shaft 6. The shaft l is driven from the shaft 6 by means of a housed speed changing mechanism I0, the details of which are not shown, so as to allow the shaft '1 to be driven at any desired speed relative to the shaft 6. Secured to one end of the frame 5 as by means of channel bars II is the casing I2 of the impacting machine proper. This casing I2 has a discharge mouth I3 connected by a necting as to elevator chute I1.

hopper I4 to a wing feeder I5 which discharges into a chute I6 running downwardly andcon- The wing feeder I5 has a substantially cylindrical portion through the center of which a shaft I8 extendsand this shaft carries a series of radial vanes I9 working within the cylindrical part ofthe feeder. The shaft `I8 may be driven from any suitable source ofpower as by means of a belt 20 working over a pulley 2|` secured to the shaft I 8.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 3 and 4, it l will be seen that the casing I2 as there shown includes a rear wall I 2a, a frontwall I2b, a top wall I2c and side walls I2d and I2e respectively. In the particular casing shown the lower part. of the side wall I2e is diagonally slanted to carry the material properly to the discharge mouth I3. The shaft 'I extends centrally through the rear wall I2ainto the casing I2 while a feed chute 22 has an angular extension projecting through an opening in the front wall I2b into the interior of the casing I2.

Centrally. disposed withinthe casing I 2 is a heavy impactor ring 23 preferably made up 0f a number of arcuate sections as the four sections shown. Ihis impactor ring is hung from the top wall I2c of the casing by means of a pair of bolts 24 which carry a pair of substantially semi-circular bands k25 which embrace the several sectionsof the impactor ring 23. The ends of the two bands 25 are equipped with lugs 26 through which the bolts 24 extend and jamb nuts 2l are employed drawing together on the bolts 24 the adjacent endportions of the two bands 25. While most of the weight of the impactor ring 23 is supported by the two bolts 24 from the top wall I2c of the casing I2, the impactor ring 23 is nicely positioned in Vertical alignment and held in proper relation relative to. the rear and front walls I2a and I2bvof the casing by means of nutted bolts 28 which run through the impactor ring 23 and through the rear walls I2a and project through spacing thimbles 29 disposed be- 4-tween the rear side of the ring`23 and the rear wall I2a.

The impactor ring 23 is of peculiar formation' in that it is provided at its inner periphery with a multiplicity of corrugations which extend generally transversely of the ring to provide a multiplicity of teeth 30 on the internal periphery of the ring. These teeth as best shown in Figs.

4 and 5 are slightly peaked at their central por` v within the casing I2. To strengthen the central part of the inner disc 3l a circular sheet 34 may be provided which is also fastened by the bolts 22 to the hub 33. Preferably the central parts of the disc 3l and the sheet 34 are further secured to the shaft 1 by a heavy bolt :l5 centrally mounted in the outer end of the shaft 1. Spaced from the disc 3l and also forming part of the impeller is an annular disc 36 having a central feed opening 31 therein. Attached to the annular disc 36 adjacent the edges of the feed opening 31 is a truncated conical feed mouth 38 equipped with a multiplicity of radially disposed triangular shaped distributing uns 39. Extending between the two discs 3l and 36 and running from adjacent the feed opening 31 to the outer peripheries of the two discs are a multiplicity of primary vanes or fling arms 40.' Secured adjacent the inner end of each of the primary fling arms 40 in slightly outwardly spaced relation from its inner end is a secondary vane or fling arm 4I. The primary and secondary fling arms 40 and 4I are preferably attached together as by welding and the inner portions of each pair of primary and secondary fling arms are secured to the discs 3| and 36 and the discs are secured together by means of nutted bolts 42 which are received between the inner angular portions of the joined pair of fling arms. Outer nutted bolts 43 also extend between and interconnect the two discs 3l and 36 and each primary and secondary fling arm 40 and 4I is anchored to one of these outer bolts 43 as by welding thereto. With this arrangement a strong rigid impeller structure A is provided.

, Each of the primary lling arms 40 in spaced relation from its inner end is provided with an opening 44 for a purpose presently to appear. This opening at its inner end is approximately requal, in the illustrated embodiment, to one-hal.F

the width of the primary fling arm 40 and the opening at one side of the same, as at the inner side, gradually diminishes in width. Secured to each primary fling arm 40 as along the inner side of the opening 44 and at the opposite side of the primaryY fling arm 40 from that side to which its companion fling arm 4| is attached, is a guard flange 45.

It will be noted that-the inner ends of the primary fling arms 40 are regularly circumferentially spaced and that the outer ends of the primary iling yarms are also regularly circumferentially spaced at the peripheries of the two discs 3l and 36. The outer ends of the secondary fling arms 4I are intermediately spaced between the outer ends ofthe=adjacent primary fling arms 40 and as a result there is a regular circumferential spacing between the outer ends of all the various fling arms.

The angularly extending portion of the feed chute 22 extends to apoint within the feed mouth 38, there being free clearance for rotation of the feed mouth 38 relative to the chute 22. To prevent impacted grain thrown out from upper portions o1' the impactor ring 23 from working into the impeller A between the feed mouth 33 and the adjacent portion of the feed chute 22, there is provided an angular roof 46 which is secured to the front wall I2b'0f the casing as by suitable supporting bracket 41.

In operation the shaft 6 is driven as by the belt 8 running over the pulley 9. The speed changing mechanism I0 is so regulated that the shaft 1 will be turned at a desired speed relative to the lshaft 6. Inasmuch as any suitable speed changing mechanism may be employed for the purpose of driving the shaft 1 from the shaft 6 and varying the speed of rotation of the shaft 1 as desired, it is thought unnecessary to describe or illustrate the speed changing mechanism in detail. The shaft 'I' will be driven so as to` rotate the impeller A at high speed inthe direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3. 'I'he grain to be impacted is fed in a continuous stream through the feed chute 22 into the feed mouth 38. The triangular fins 39 distribute the fed grain to the passages of the impactor formed between the inner ends of the adjacent primary fling arms 40. The primary fling arms 4B catch this grain and the grain bearing against the advancing sides 0f the primary fling arms 40 is slid outwardly on the primary ing arms 40 through centrifugal action. As the grain works outwardly to the openings 44 in the primary fling arms, half of the grain drops through these openings on to the secondary lling arms 4I, the remaining half of the grain being still carried by the primary fling arms 40. After half of the grain is slid outwardly on the primary fling arms 40 past the inner ends of the openings 44, this grain tends to fan out to the full width of the primary fling arms 40 and to prevent more than half of the grain from working through the openings 44, anges 45 are provided which guard against such action. I'he grain after being divided in the manner specified between the primary fling arms 40 and the secondary fling arms 4I is carried on outwardly through centrifugal forge to be thrown from the ends of the primary and secondary fling arms against the teeth 30 of the corrugated impactor ring 23.

Assuming that the impeller is rotating in a counterclockwise direction as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3 the-grain discharged from the ends of the primaryand secondary fling arms 40 and 4I will strike the surfaces of the teeth 30 which are designated 30a. The corrugations which form the`teeth 30 are so made that the surfaces 30a are disposed substantially normal tothe general direction of movement of the grain as it is flung off from the impeller A against the impacting ring 23. The grain as it works oil the outer ends of the ning arms 40 and 4I has a radial component of force due to the centrifugal action imparted thereto by the impeller and the grain also has another component of force substantially tangential to' the various ends of the respective fling arms. The resultant line of movement of the grain as it is ejected from the impeller causes the grain to strike the surfaces 30a of the teeth almost squarely with great violence thereby shattering the grain. By reason of the fact that the teeth 3U are slightly peaked, the grain after striking the surfaces 30a of the teeth 30 glances oil to the two sides of the impactor ring 23 so that the once impacted grain will not stand in the way of the succeedasvases and interfinto the wing feeder Il, the vanes i9, of which y feed the material into the chute It and thence into the chute Il.' The irnpeller A in addition y to throwing the grain out'violently against the impactor-ring 2l has a centrifugal fan action and the wing feeder II prevents air from being forced violently into the chute Il past the feeder. The roof 4I prevents to a large extent the carrying back ofthe impacted grain into thefeed mouth Il, whereby double impaction of the `grain is prevented. Of course, a certain. amount of air thrown out by the fan action of the irnpeller will work back to the space between the feed mouth 38 and the end of the feed chute 22 into the central part of the impeller. It should be noted that the' end of the feed chute 22 disposed within the feed mouth 3l is located close to the upper part of the mouth but spaced from thelower partof the mouth. 'I'his is done deliberately so thatback feed of air into the mouth will be largely at the lower portion thereof whereby the entering air will rise against the stream of grain discharged from the feed chute to lift this discharged grain and counteract to some extent the force of gravity whereby more even distribution to all the passages formed between the inner ends of the primary fling arms 40 is obtained.

`'I'he purpose of employing thesecondary fling arms 4| in conjunction with the primary fling arms 40 is to secure high capacity of the impactor while still permitting the grain to be discharged from the various iiing arms .in thin streams or sheets. By reason of the fact that the grain is fed centrally tothe rotary irnpeller, the circle about which the inner ends of the primary fling arm 40 is arranged is quite small and the passages between the inner ends of the primary fling arms are of limited size. By employing the secondary fling arms 4i and equippingthe primary arms lli-with the openings 44 and the flanges 45 the capacity of the machine may be greatly increased over what it would be if merely the primary ning arms 40 were used with no openings through these ing arms. It

will. of course, be appreciated thatthe capacity of the machine could be still again increased. in ixnpellers vof sufficient diameter by again subdividing the streams moving outwardly on the fling arms under centrifugal force andemploying additional auxiliary* fling arms with appropriate openings through the existing fling arms.

With the corrugated vimpactor ring 23 itis found that a much better impacting effect is -secured on the grain than when aI smooth impactor ring is employed. 'I'his is'undoubtedly due to the fact that with the toothconstruction the grain hits the surface against which it is impacted much more squarely than is the case when a smooth faced impactor ring is employed.

'I'he shattering action secured is controlled very largely by the speed of rotation of the impeller A and b y varying this speed the granulation obtained may be regulated. The impactar is particularly effective for use in connection with the impacting of such cereal grains as wheat, rye,

etc., although it will be understood 'that it may be used for breaking up and sub-dividing any type of granular material. An impactor can be lused eifectively as disclosed in my pending application for patent Serial No. 442,439 heretoforefully identified, to break out the germ of such cereal grains as wheat and rye in substantially whole form from the remainder of the grain berries. This is, of course, only one use to which the impactor may be put.

vIt will. of course, be understood that various .changes may` be made in the form, details, arrangement and pfoportions of the various parts said opening to the outer peripheries of said discs, said im'peller being secured to said shaft, a feed chute having a discharge portion extend- -ing into said feed opening of the disc provided therewith and a pitched roof overlying the discharge portion of said feed chute and disposed vintermediately between the upper portion of said impact ring and said feed opening.

2. An impacting machine comprising an impact ring, a pair of spaced `discs rotatably mount` l ed within said ringyone of said discs being provided with a central opening, means for feeding y .granular material to said central opening to the' space between said discs and a plurality of primary and secondary fling arms disposed between said discs, the primary arms extending from adjacent said opening to the peripheries of said discs and having passagestherein intermediate of less width than the width of the arms and said secondary arms -b'eing located between primary arms and running from. pointsl outwardly of the inner ends of said primary arms but inwardly from said passages -to the outer peripheries of the discs, said discs and said primary and second fling arms forming an irnpeller and means for rapidly rotating said impeller. y y l 3. The structure defined in claim 2, said primary ing arms having at their advancing sides upstanding flanges each disposed at the inner side of one of said passages forpreventing lateral movement of a portion of the granular material moving outwardly along the associated fling arm.

4. An impacting machine comprising an impact ring, a shaft centrally disposed relative to said ring, means 'for rotating said shaft and an irnpeller secured to said shaft, saidmpeller comprising a pairof spaced discs, one of which has a central feed opening therein and a, multiplicity of primary and secondary fling arms disposed between said discs, the primary arms extending from points adjacent said feed opening to the outer peripheries of said discs and having intermediate therein passages therethrough of less width than the full width of said primary arms and me by said secondary arms.

5. An impacting machine comprising an impeller mounted for rotation upon a horizontal 'i axis, said impeller having a plurality of fling arms-unobstructed at their outer ends, an impact ring mounted concentrically of said impeller and having a centrally peaked impact area forming outwardly and uniformly sloping surfaces from each side of the central peak wherebyvmaterial impacted will be caused to discharge rapidly and laterally :from both sides of said impact ring, a casing surrounding said impeller and said impact ring and having side walls spaced substantially from the sides of said ring for defining vertical passages for receiving laterally discharged impacted material from both sides of said ring and -for permitting the same to freely drop downwardly by gravity for removal and means for feeding granular material to the center of said impeller to =be acted upon by said fling arms.

6. An impacting machine comprising an impact ring, a pair cf spaced discs rotatably mounted within said ring, one 0f said discs being provided with a central opening, means for feeding granular material to said central opening to the space between said discs and a plurality of primary and secondary fling arms disposed between said discs, the primary arms extending lfrom adjacent said opening to the peripheries of said discs and having narrow passages therein intermediate the ends of the primary arms and said secondary arms being located between the primary arms and diverging outwardly from points adjacent the inner ends of said primary arms to the periphery of said disc, said disc and said primary and secondary fling arms forming an impeller and means for rapidly rotating said impeller.

7. An impacting machine comprising, a casing having a. bottom discharge outlet, an impact ring mounted within said casing and having substantially transversely extending centrally peaked teeth on its inner periphery, a central horigontal shaft extending within said casing, means for rapidly rotating said shaft, and an impeller secured to said shaft, said impeller comprising a pair of spaced discs one of which has a, central feed opening therein and a multiplicity of fling arms diverging from adjacent said feed openings to the peripheries of said discs, said impeller being disposed within said .casing to work within said ring, said centrally peaked teeth providing oppositely disposed slopes merging into a central ridge for causing material impacted to discharge laterally at both sides of said ring and said teeth each having a substantial plane surface so related to said ring and the speed of rotation of the impeller as to lie substantially normal to the fling movement of the material processed, said casing having side walls spaced from the side of said ring and said impeller to provide passages for receiving impacted material discharged laterally from said sides of said ring and for permitting such material to drop by gravity downwardly to said discharge outlet.

- ROBERT J. S. CARTER. 

